The Bursting Bookshelf

Life As We Knew It meets Lord of the Flies in a mall that looks just like yours

A biological bomb has just been discovered in the air ducts of a busy suburban mall. At first nobody knows if it's even life threatening, but then the entire complex is quarantined, people start getting sick, supplies start running low, and there's no way out. Among the hundreds of trapped shoppers are four teens.

These four different narrators, each with their own stories, must cope in unique, surprising styles, changing in ways they wouldn't have predicted, trying to find solace, safety, and escape at a time when the adults are behaving badly.

This is a gripping look at people and how they can--and must--change under the most dire of circumstances.

And not always for the better.

Review:
This book intrigued me from the very beginning. It's summary, on the ARC, talked about it being like Contagion (a biological thriller movie) and Lord of the Flies (a survival story), neither of which I have seen/ read, but it seemed unique in the vast realm of Young Adult books. And when I read it, I found it to be a thrilling contemporary book that should not be missed.

The symbol universally recognized as the one for toxins is featured on this cover. To further the feel of danger, yellow and red were used in harsh tones to call to the curious eye even more. Beneath the toxic symbol you can see the outlines of people trapped in the mall looking stressed and wanting to leave, add that to the rough paper texture and Sharpie marker-like title font and you have a very cool looking cover.

Lately I've been reading a lot of books from multiple points of view and this one was no exception. I loved the diversity shown in the characters; they were all hugely different in personality as well as backgrounds. Some of them grew relationships with each other whilst in the mall, but all of them just wanted to get out. It was this mutual interest that really brought the characters together, otherwise they didn't have very much in common at all. It was really interesting to see how they changed as their stay in the mall grew longer and longer and how they reacted to the stresses that accompanied it. The characters could not have been better written to fit this story: they were like any other person, but they were thrown into the insane and frightening situation of being exposed to a deadly virus and not knowing much about it.

I was under the belief during the majority of this book that it was a standalone book until the very end when it was clear that there would have to be more. The book starts off with a bang (bad bomb pun, I'm sorry) with the discovery of a biological bomb and the lock down of the huge mall. It was very well paced with the exception of a few slow spots where uncertainty over their situation overrode the plot. The writing made everything seem very real; it really was able to draw the reader's attention to it while still remaining fairly elusive about what the outcome could be in the future. The end was one that I will not forget anytime soon; it was a true cliffhanger that both surprised me and made me immediately want more.

I really enjoyed this book, and any one in need of a good thriller will too. I give No Safety in Numbers a 4/5 for gripping me from the beginning all the way to the end. Now, pardon me while I go wash my hands a few million times.

So Follow my Blog Friday is a meme held by Parajunkee and it's where you answer the weekly question and then link yourself and you go and check out other blogs of your interest.

Q: Birthday Wishes — Blow out the candles and imagine what character could pop out of your cake…who is it and what book are they from??

Easy- Adrian from Vampire Academy and Bloodlines. He's good looking, a bad boy and intelligent at times! What more can a girl ask for?

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, the ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . 

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Review:
When Cinder came out, it was surrounded by all sorts of amazing hype that made me a little skeptical of the book. How could it be that great? Well, I finally took the dive and picked it up and read it and the only bad thing about it was the fact that I had not read it earlier.

The cover is an interesting one, while I read it I had many people ask about the book and tell me that the cover caught their eye. It features Cinder's foot in a very red glass slipper, paying homage to the original tale involving the glass slipper. Also, it is easy to see the mechanics beneath Cinder's skin, immediately telling the reader that the story is about a cyborg. I love the font they used for the title and the author name; both carry a fantasy, futuristic feel to them that matched the book well.

As you may have guessed, the main character's name was Cinder. Cinder was a cyborg living in New Beijing sometime in the far future. Even though her 'family' had treated her like dirt for the duration of her living with them, she still retained hope and a good personality when it would have been easy to just be bitter and down on herself. Cinder was a very strong character who was highly enjoyable to read about, just as many of the characters were in the book. Prince Kai was another favorite of mine because he didn't take no for an answer, but he didn't put a new love before his priorities with the kingdom. These qualities made him realistic as well as a great love interest. The relationship dynamic between these two was very interesting, as they didn't get far into it before the book ended, not doing the whole 'instant love' shebang that's very popular in books today.

The premise was amazing and unique, for a retelling, and it was truly delivered by the great writing and plot. The writing made me form instant bonds with the characters, holding me to them emotionally, making me feel for the characters from the beginning. It was these bonds that hooked me into every page, and kept me there until the very end. And by that I mean that I was wanting more at the end, but the cliffhanger left me wanting the next book instantly. The pacing of the plot was spot on, it couldn't have been done better. There were no slow parts and there was always something occurring or building. From beginning to end there was no shortage of twists and turns that made Cinder a book that you don't want to miss.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an awesome retelling of a classic fairytale with a twist, or simply to anyone. I give Cinder a 5/5 for making me die for the next book in the series.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event held by Jill over at Breaking The Spine! It's all about those books you just can't wait for and are counting down the days till they come out.  


This week I chose:


Eva’s life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination—an echo. Made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, she is expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her “other”, if she ever died. Eva studies what Amarra does, what she eats, what it’s like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But fifteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything she’s ever known—the guardians who raised her, the boy she’s forbidden to love—to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive.

X-Men meets The Breakfast Club in this darkly humorous adventure

The Vindico are a group of supervillains who have been fighting the League of Heroes for as long as anyone can remember. Realizing they're not as young as they used to be, they devise a plan to kidnap a group of teenagers to take over for them when they retire--after all, how hard can it be to teach a bunch of angsty teens to be evil?

Held captive in a remote mansion, five teens train with their mentors and receive superpowers beyond their wildest dreams. Struggling to uncover the motives of the Vindico, the teens have to trust each other to plot their escape. But they quickly learn that the differences between good and evil are not as black and white as they seem, and they are left wondering whose side they should be fighting on after all . . .

With fast-paced action, punchy dialogue, and sarcastic humor, this high-stakes adventure from a talented new YA voice pulls you in from the first page.


Review:
I initally read the summary for the book a short while before I read it; it had me at "X-Men" (in case you didn't know, I am a huge fan of Marvel superheroes!). With the interesting premise of telling a story from a multiple quasi-villain point of view, I read and adored this awesome tale of coming of age under the most unusual of circumstances.

The cover was one definitely designed to draw the eyes of both boys and girls, creating a greater demographic for the book. The color was one that I really liked; it was between fuchsia and red with lighter lightening streaks through it. It also transcended the gender boundaries; it had draw for both boys and girls, rather than just one or the other. The whole thing came together wonderfully, and it will no doubt draw readers to it with ease.

The story was told through five points of view; that of James, Lana, Sam, Hayden, and Emily. They were all very different people, but they were all thrown together when they were abducted by The Villains. Did I have a favorite character? No: I loved them all that much! All of them could be related to on some level and the were very much like-able. The ability to make a reader sympathize with the characters is a great skill and something that I look for in a book, which was achieved in this one. The Villains were also brilliantly written; they weren't just stereotypical bad guys, they had depth and back stories that were very intriguing.

The story was fantastic and quick to action, and the writing was just as good. There were plenty of action packed scenes, but there was also a good mix of emotional ones to bring balance to the plot. It featured nearly perfect pacing along with writing with an attention grabbing style. It was clear in the writing that every character was equally as important, none were favored by the plot or the writing. The author was also able to give every single character a different personality without making any of them too similar; a difficult task considering how many characters were in the book. I cannot wait for more of the history between the characters as well as more of the quick plot in the sequel!

I strongly recommend that fans of superheroes or anyone looking for a unique Young Adult title. I cannot wait for the next book in the series, but until then, I give The Vindico a 5/5.

Hey everyone! I finally finished exams, meaning that I CAN BLOG AGAIN! I'm really excited to be back and able to share some new reviews with you guys! Watch out for a new book haul on Saturday, and be sure to check out the guest post from this week too!

Hey everyone! Have you read my review of Fated? If not, click here. As you can tell, I liked the book, having read it a while back. To read it was one thing, but to hear part of the audiobook brought a whole new dimension to the story, bringing it alive with the great voice acting, as heard in the clip below. I don't know about you guys, but I think I may have to pick this one up!


Check it out: Amazon USA Amazon Canada



What did you think?

I really, really love writing about characters dealing with extreme situations and
there's not much more extreme than a zombie apocalypse.  I knew exploring that would be
an opportunity to push people to their limits and I'm at a point in my writing where
that's one of my favourite things to do.  My poor characters!  They never have it easy. I wrote three books before Cracked Up to Be and none of them are published (and never
will be, hopefully! They were terrible!), and the first two were adult books with
distinctly YA voices so I was drawn to YA before I actually realized I was and I think
I'm drawn to it because it just fits.  That's not to say I'll never write adult fiction,
but for now the stories in my head are best suited to the YA category.  I LOVE reading YA
too, and they always say write the book you'd love to read. I can't say because it would be a spoiler, but I can tell you that the book itself was
just generally difficult to write.  I'm a big zombie fanatic so when I decided to write a
zombie book myself, I felt a lot of pressure to do as right by the genre as I could.  It
was pretty stressful at points. Probably in some characters more than others, but if I've done my job right no one will
be able to tell which ones.  :)  
In This is Not a Test, my favourite character to write was Sloane.  She needed to be or I
wouldn't have been able to write her at all.  My next favourite was Trace because he's so
abrasive.  I love how he just said whatever he was thinking, no matter how hurtful it
was.  Out of all of my books, my favourite character is always the one I'm in the process
of writing.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Anna!

Hello everyone!


Long time no see! I know I have neglected my blog a lot in the past little while, but it is with good reason: exams. I thought I'd be able to continue updating through this time, but I have been proven completely wrong, and for that I am sorry. 


What's the point of this post, you ask? Well, I've decided on taking a brief hiatus (which you may have gotten from the title of this post). It'll only last two weeks, giving me time to properly focus on my exams. I have a few posts scheduled for you to enjoy, but I will not be writing any new ones for two weeks.


I cannot wait to come back during the summer and review a ton of books for you guys!


Thanks for your understanding,
Anna Tee
The Bursting Bookshelf

Review:
Being familiar with the name Syrie James, but having never actually read anything by her, I didn't know what to expect going into the book. I hadn't read any angel books as of late, so I was quite looking forward to the book for just that reason.

I love the cover of this book! It's very different than other books of the angelic variety; this one had less of a dark feel to it and more of a feature on blue and green tones. It also didn't show what the cover model was thinking or what emotion she was portraying, giving the book an air of mystery. Apart from the model, the theme wasn't a super simple, modern look. It was more of a fantasy and older feel, giving it a romantic vibe. There's also the little swirl at the bottom of the second 'd' in the title that really tied the cover together.

Character-wise, the book had it's few drawbacks. I loved the two main characters Alec and Claire a lot, but I felt that some of the secondary characters were very undeveloped. Alec was amazing; supernatural and hot, he was a perfect combo. He also had the feeling of uniqueness that is hard to find in characters. Claire was also fun, she made a good protagonist and had a strong feeling to her. The relationship between the two was slow going and not instant, making me enjoy it even more. Apart from select secondary characters, the rest of the characters were enjoyable and well written.

Honestly, I didn't know who wrote what. Often with dual authored books it's fairly simple to tell where one's writing begins and where the other ends, but it simply wasn't that easy in this book. The writing was phenomenal, but the story was even better. It was well paced, but perhaps more romantic than adventurous.  I'd recommend this book to anyone who has either lost faith in the angels of YA or who would like to try the genre out. I give Forbidden a 4/5.